After starting the season with only 2 wins for 10 losses in the first 12 games, Anthony Davis and the Lakers had a statistically only 0.3% chance of playing in the playoffs. With a wobbly roster, an obvious lack of spacing and a Russell Westbrook lost in a role he simply wasn’t cut out for, the Los Angeles team seemed to be running into a wall. A real mess entrusted to a rookie coach, Darvin Ham.
Almost six months later, the Lakers have just eliminated the Warriors, defending champions, to qualify for the conference final.
“It’s amazing, and I thank God every day. It’s a hell of an adventure that I hope will never end.” said the Lakers coach after eliminating Golden State. “We just have to take it day by day and be in the moment, we’ve knocked out two really phenomenal teams. The last was a four-time champion. There are only four teams left, but I’m having fun, not letting anything stress me out, it’s just fun, it’s basketball, and I’m having a blast coaching this team and representing this franchise.”.
Rob Pelinka’s masterstroke
Until mid-February, the Lakers were however in a real slump, in 13th place in the West. It was then that Rob Pelinka, the GM, decided to blow up half of the workforce during the “trade deadline”.
As expected, the Russell Westbrook experiment has come to an end for the good of both parties. In return, the Lakers picked up a former home, D’Angelo Russell, in a three-team trade involving the Wolves and Jazz. In the same package, Los Angeles also obtained two “role players”: Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley, both arrived from Jazz. Among the other notable reinforcements, the arrival of Rui Hachimura from Washington as well as that of Mo Bamba from Orlando.
Slowly but surely, the Lakers began to climb the slope, and they even finished the regular season in a cannonball with a record of 18 wins for 8 losses, the best record in the West since the trade deadline. Result: the Lakers went from 13th to 7th place to snatch an unexpected qualification a few weeks earlier… in play-in. Even better, they even finished with a positive record (43-39), despite the many games missed by LeBron James (27) and Anthony Davis (26) during the regular season.
In a fierce battle against Minnesota in “play-in”, they managed to overcome Rudy Gobert and his band after extra time to validate their ticket for the playoffs.
“All you ask for is a chance. For us to reverse our season and give ourselves the opportunity to fight for the Larry O’Brien Trophy, that’s all we could ask for.” said LeBron James after qualifying for the playoffs. “It’s the only reason I’m still playing, to try to win titles, and to give my teammates who have never been in a title run something they’ve never experienced before.”.
And now the title?
In a season where they have known everything, the Lakers now have an appointment with the Nuggets in the Conference Finals, the best team in the West in the regular season. After coming out of Memphis and then Golden State, the confidence level is at its highest in Los Angeles. The goal is now clear: hang an 18th banner from the ceiling and win a second title under the LeBron James – Anthony Davis era, after that of 2020.
Yet, never has a No. 7 seed been a champion in NBA history.
“We want to shock the world. We started the season with 2 wins and 10 losses, we improved at the trade deadline. We added new elements, and the way we were playing, the guys came in motivated and wanted to win.” said Anthony Davis, after eliminating the Warriors. “There aren’t a lot of guys on our team who have ended up in close games or in this position in the second round of the playoffs. But they are hungry. They want it, just like LeBron and I want another title together. Now it’s time to go get it. It’s unfinished business”.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| lebron james | 55 | 35.5 | 50.0 | 32.1 | 76.8 | 1.2 | 7.1 | 8.3 | 6.8 | 3.2 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 28.9 |
| Anthony Davis | 56 | 34.0 | 56.3 | 25.7 | 78.4 | 3.5 | 9.1 | 12.5 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 25.9 |
| D’angelo Russell | 17 | 30.9 | 48.4 | 41.4 | 73.5 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 6.1 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 17.4 |
| Russell Westbrook | 52 | 28.7 | 41.7 | 29.6 | 65.5 | 1.1 | 5.0 | 6.2 | 7.5 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 15.9 |
| Austin Reaves | 64 | 28.8 | 52.9 | 39.8 | 86.4 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 13.0 |
| Dennis Schroder | 66 | 30.1 | 41.5 | 32.9 | 85.7 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 12.6 |
| Thomas Bryant | 41 | 21.4 | 65.4 | 44.0 | 74.1 | 1.6 | 5.2 | 6.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 12.1 |
| lonnie walker | 56 | 23.2 | 44.8 | 36.5 | 85.8 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 11.7 |
| Malik Beasley | 26 | 23.9 | 39.2 | 35.3 | 61.9 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 11.1 |
| Rui Hachimura | 33 | 22.4 | 48.5 | 29.6 | 72.1 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 9.6 |
| Jarred Vanderbilt | 26 | 24.0 | 52.9 | 30.3 | 78.4 | 1.9 | 4.8 | 6.7 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 7.2 |
| Troy Brown, Jr. | 76 | 24.5 | 43.0 | 38.1 | 87.2 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 7.1 |
| Kendrick Nunn | 39 | 13.5 | 40.6 | 32.5 | 81.0 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 6.7 |
| Patrick Beverly | 45 | 26.9 | 40.2 | 34.8 | 78.0 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 6.4 |
| Wenyen Gabriel | 68 | 15.1 | 59.6 | 27.8 | 61.9 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 4.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 5.5 |
| matt ryan | 12 | 10.8 | 30.6 | 37.1 | 80.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 3.9 |
| Mohammad Bamba | 9 | 9.8 | 40.7 | 31.3 | 54.5 | 1.2 | 3.3 | 4.6 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 3.7 |
| Max Christie | 41 | 12.5 | 41.5 | 41.9 | 87.5 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 3.1 |
| Juan Toscano Anderson | 30 | 12.2 | 50.0 | 20.0 | 73.3 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 2.7 |
| Damian Jones | 22 | 8.0 | 54.1 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 2.5 |
| Scotty Pippen, Jr. | 6 | 5.3 | 33.3 | 33.3 | 55.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.3 |
| cole swider | 7 | 5.8 | 33.3 | 37.5 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.3 |
| davon reed | 8 | 3.4 | 75.0 | 50.0 | 25.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.0 |
| Sterling Brown | 4 | 6.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
